Wednesday, December 15, 2010

City Targets Laggard Schools

It's good to see that Bloomberg and Klein aren't backing down from shutting down failing schools, including one charter school:

The Department of Education announced the names of a dozen schools that it intends to shut down for poor performance. More names come Tuesday.

New York City stumbled in closing schools last year, and the process is loaded with political land mines for the new schools chancellor, Cathie Black.

On average, just 17% of students at elementary and middle schools slated for closure are proficient in English and 20% are proficient in math. The citywide average is 42% and 54%, respectively. Of the four high schools slated to close, the average graduation rate is 48%, compared with a city average of 63%.

The DOE said another list of closing schools will be announced Tuesday, pending notification. "Year after year, even as we provided extra help and support, these schools simply have not gotten the job done for children," said Marc Sternberg, deputy chancellor, in a statement.

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DECEMBER 7, 2010

City Targets Laggard Schools

12 Are Put on Hit List So Far; Political Land Mines Await the New Chancellor